Careers Slideshow: IT Careers: 13 Most Important IT Roles

The age of IT specialization is dead, replaced by an emphasis on skills that can translate across the enterprise. That's one of the chief findings of a recent Forrester Research survey in which 128 IT decision makers were asked about their changing staffing needs.

-According to Forrester, this shift can be traced to a number of emerging trends:

-Maturing technologies such as software-as-a-service and business intelligence are changing IT skills requirements;

-The growing array of outsourcing options have altered in-house staffing priorities, with more specialized skills increasingly likely to be outsourced; and

The continued search for cost-reduction opportunities has changed how IT decisions are made.

With those trends in mind, here's a countdown of 13 common IT roles, based on the percentage of IT executives who believe each role is growing in importance.

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IT Careers: 13 Most Important IT Roles

No. 13

Human Resources (within IT)20%HR for IT is an increasingly unnecessary luxury in an increasingly self-service environment.